The Lead Ministry Podcast

#163 - The old saying goes “you can draw more bees with honey than vinegar” and that’s no different in ministry. One of the most endearing qualities in a person is simply their kindness. Being nice goes a long way, and in today’s podcast, we sit down with one of the world’s nicest, Don Busse, and talk about the importance of being kind ministry. We hope you enjoy episode 163 of the Lead Volunteers...

#162 - Not every pastor is at the top of the org chart. In fact, most aren’t. So how then can pastors effectively lead, get approval for, and implement new ideas by their superior - and gain their trust in the process? In today’s episode of the podcast we talk about you can produce results that speak for themselves. We hope you enjoy episode 162 of the Lead Volunteers Podcast and share it with a m...

#161 - Anxiety, Depression, and Burnout is at an all time high in pastors and ministries leaders. From top to bottom, more and more ministry leaders feel unable to process their thoughts and emotions due to the fact that they lead in the church. Processing a difficult conversation amongst friends about your boss as a bank teller is different than if you’re a pastor. Many ministry leaders feel like...

#160 - The battle of people vs programming has been ongoing within the ministry world for years. As ministry leaders, we obviously love and care for the people serving within our ministries, however, at the same time, Sunday is always coming and we have programs to run and slots to fill. So, what’s the solution? How do we love, honor, and do life with the people we serve with in our ministries whi...

#159 - When it comes to leading volunteers, clarity and communication may just be two of the most important words to keep in mind and practice as a leader because they play such a huge role in fostering health, longevity, and relationship for your volunteers. One of the biggest reasons we see volunteers not sticking around for very long in a certain ministry isn’t so much that they don’t enjoy it,...

#158 - One of the secret weapons of volunteer leadership is being able to multiply yourself. And in this week’s episode of the podcast, we sit down with our friend Gregg Johnson, founder of J12 ministries, and discuss how multiplying yourself as the ministry leader can transform the next generation for christ. We hope you enjoy episode 158 of the Lead Volunteers Podcast and share it with a ministr...

#157 - Volunteer training is a universal ministry task that never seems to work itself out on its own. Training takes time, effort, and intentionality that we, as ministry leaders, don’t always feel like we have. On this week’s episode of the podcast, we sit down with our friend Doug Franklin and discuss why it’s so hard to train adult volunteers, and ways to not only make it easier for ourselves,...

#156 - Developing volunteer teams that not only function well, but are effective and last, can be a challenge. In this week’s episode of he podcast, we sit down with our friend, Sid Koop, and soak up some of his wisdom and advice for developing teams that help ministry leaders continue to push the mission and vision forward. We hope you enjoy episode 156 of the Lead Volunteers Podcast and share it...

#155 - It’s easy to love the people that are easy to love, but what about the people that aren’t so easy to love. As ministry leaders, we do a great job of welcoming, loving, and encouraging those who look like us, think like us, and act like us, however, if we take a deeper look at the life and ministry of Jesus, we notice his unwavering love and commitment to the "least of these." In today’s epi...

#154 - On today’s episode of the podcast, we sit down with our old friend Kevin David and talk all things worship — how to lead, how to lead a team, and all of the nuances in between. In a world of front-man-celebrity worship leaders, Kevin walks us through his method of building up the body to do the work of the ministry within his worship team. We hope you enjoy episode 154 of the Lead Volunteer...

#153 - Merry Christmas from us to you! We have so much to be thankful and grateful for this year - and a lot of that is because of you taking time to listen to this podcast. We couldn’t do what we do without you, and we not only want to let you know how thankful we are, but take some time to appreciate you for making this podcast what it is. We hope you had an amazing Christmas spent with friends...

#152 - We’ve all had to make a last minute changes to our plans - but at what point does making last minute changes to agreed upon plans become a detriment to the staff or volunteers we lead? In today’s episode of the podcast, we talk about when it’s appropriate to make changes, and when it might just simply be a pattern of inconsistency in ones leadership. There’s a time and a place for an audibl...

#151 - I’m guessing you’ve likely been a part of a group a friends that, at one point or another, let a situation get a little out of hand. What started as a fun evening turned into a crazy memory that leaves you wondering how no one ended up in the hospital (or worse). As ministry leaders, part of our job is to create an atmosphere of fun during our events and programming - but what happens when...

#150 - Would you say you tend to guilt your volunteers into doing things - or control them into doing things? Well, we hope the answer is neither, and on todays episode of the podcast, we talk about ways to you help you as a ministry leader steer clear of the (often times unintentional) tendency to use guilt and control as a tool to lead your volunteers. We hope you enjoy episode 150 of the Lead V...

#149 - Many leaders struggle with control. It’s hard to let go when our passion for ministry is so high, but as we’ve seen time and time again, it’s not healthy long-term for leaders to be in control of every aspect within their ministry. In fact, we’d even suggest that the health of a ministry can be determined by what would happen if the leader wasn’t there. On today’s episode of the podcast, we...

#148 - Leadership dynamics can be complicated. When it comes to the people you report to, or the people that report to you, it’s important to be intentional about your interactions and relationship with them to not only succeed as a team, but set your ministry up to succeed for generations to come. On today’s episode of the podcast, we sit down with long time friend Janet Young and discuss some of...

#147 - Connecting your church with local schools is oftentimes a difficult feat. Most of time, collaboration includes a significant compromise by one party or the other. However, on today’s episode of the podcast, Josh sits down with our friend, Tasha Haley, and discuss their experience partnering with local schools in a way that provides a win for faculty, staff, students, volunteers, and the chu...

#146 - One of our goals as ministry leaders is to multiply ourselves. Developing leaders to do the work of the ministry is such a big part of working with volunteers, and on today’s episode of the podcast, we talk about how to do that well so we don’t unintentionally guilt and control our volunteers. We hope you enjoy episode 146 of the Lead Volunteers Podcast and share it with a ministry leader y...

#145 - Have you ever found yourself short on volunteers? Welcome to ministry, right? While there are hundreds of resources to advise us on how to find the volunteers we need, there are very few that talk about the potential dangers of charging forward. In today’s episode of the podcast, we talk about just that - a few of the unintentional dangers that can accompany a plea for more help. We hope yo...

#144 - It’s one thing to go through a hard or intense season of ministry, it’s another thing to compulsively embrace hard seasons. In today’s episode of the podcast we discuss the difference between DOABLE hard, and DESTRUCTIVE hard. Knowing the difference can not only help you become a better leader, but also help you become a leader that sticks around for the long-haul. We hope you enjoy episode...

#143 - Have you ever been asked what your next role in ministry will be? Many people mean well in asking what your future goals are when it comes to your job in ministry, but what if your passion and calling don’t include “moving up the ministry ladder?” In today’s episode of the podcast, we talk about the difference between calling and climbing - and why you shouldn’t feel ashamed of loving where...

#142 - A common misconception for ministry leaders is that if they only had more staff working for them, they’d be able to do more. However, what we’ve seen time and time again is that it’s impossible to staff the complete needs of a church. Volunteers are not only necessary, but they are the engine that keeps the church moving forward. In today’s episode of the podcast, we talk about the importan...

#141 - *We apologize for this week’s audio issues. However, this was such a fun podcast jam-packed with wisdom that we just had to share it.* On today’s episode of the podcast we sit down with our friend Mac Lake, founder of Multiply Group, and discuss the power of reproducing the process of leadership development. We hope you enjoy episode 141 of the Lead Volunteers Podcast and share it with a mi...

#140 - Every volunteer’s story is different. However, every volunteer has the same opportunity to serve the same amazing God in their area. On this week’s episode of the podcast, we sit down with our friends Tracey Gilliard who went from being volun-told to volunteer in kids ministry, to eventually being a Children’s Pastor at the church he was serving. We hope you enjoy episode 140 of the Lead Vo...

#139 - Many churches function from a “top to bottom” leadership system - but what if your church’s lead pastor positioned themselves at the “bottom” in order to prop up the ministry leaders around them? In today’s episode of the podcast we sit down with Lead Pastor Robert Sweeney and discuss his philosophy of ministry, and how his intentional effort in developing his team of leaders leaks into eve...